1905 book by Henrietta Elizabeth Marshall
Our Island Story: A Child's History of England, published abroad as An Island Story: A Child's History of England, is a book by the British author Henrietta Elizabeth Marshall, first published in 1905 in London by T. C. & E. C. Jack.[1]
Content
It covers the history of England from the time of the Roman occupation until Queen Victoria's death, using a mixture of traditional history and mythology to explain the story of British history in a way accessible to younger readers.[2]
The book depicts the union of England and Scotland as a desirable and inevitable event,[3] and praises rebels and the collective will of the common people in opposing tyrants, including kings like John and Charles I.
Influence and impact
The book inspired the parody 1066 and All That.[4]
Prime Minister David Cameron chose Our Island Story when asked to select his favourite childhood book in October 2010:[2]
When I was younger, I particularly enjoyed Our Island Story by Henrietta Elizabeth Marshall [...] It is written in a way that really captured my imagination and which nurtured my interest in the history of our great nation.[2]
Richard Chartres in a lecture delivered at Gresham College mentioned his fondness for this text, relating it to an approach to English history rooted in the works of John Foxe and John Milton.[5]
